At the recent meeting of the Tourism Ministers' Council (TMC), the council strongly endorsed the Commonwealth Government's commitment to the implementation of a National Tourism Accreditation Scheme.
The Commonwealth Minister for Tourism, Martin Ferguson AM MP, said: "A flexible, credible and widely endorsed accreditation scheme is vital to lifting the standard of the Australian tourism experience, allowing Australia to compete more effectively in the global tourism market." A business plan will now be completed by the end of the year.
The 51st meeting of the council, hosted by Victoria, brought together each of the Commonwealth, state and territory ministers along with representatives from New Zealand.
Mr Ferguson also outlined plans to develop a National Long-Term Tourism Strategy which will provide an integrated framework to addresses supply issues such as investment, labour and skills, climate change, research and infrastructure, while recognising the importance of marketing to create demand. The Ministers strongly endorsed the initiative as an important step in setting direction for the tourism industry while emphasising the need for broad consultation with input to be supplied from state and territory stakeholders.
Across the council meeting Ministers also discussed a range of issues related to domestic tourism; nature based tourism; climate change; the Australian Tourism Awards and visa processing issues.
Check out the Skidget
As the snow continues to fall across the Victorian alpine resorts snow enthusiasts can keep up-to-date with conditions by checking the new online 'widget' which has been launched on Tourism Victoria's website skivic.com.
The 'skidget' provides an updated snapshot of snow conditions, temperatures and lift information for each of Victoria's seven alpine resorts. If you have a favourite resort then you can simply check the separate widgets for each resort.
As a self contained web widget, the Skidget can also be shared by emailing it to a friend, added to a range of popular sites including Facebook, MySpace, Vista, Live, Yahoo or easily adding to any other websites including personal blogs, resort site and skivic.com
The Skidget is fully supported and funded by all of Victoria's Alpine Resorts via the Board of Alpine Resorts Tourism (BART). The technology was designed and developed by Tourism Victoria's developers Next Digital and is powered by ski resort data from ski.com.au
Check out the skivic.com homepage to see the all resort widget, or click on the link below to see the list of individual resort skidgets.
State Government invest $1.6 million for Bendigo Chinese Precinct
Bendigo has received $1.6 million from the State Government to help create a Chinese Precinct. The Chinese story is an important part of Bendigo's history and the redevelopment of the precinct will help the city celebrate and tell this important story.
The $4.4 million Bendigo Chinese Precinct project will develop a 3800-square metre cultural events space in Bendigo's Central Business District (CBD). The redevelopment will make the precinct more accessible, and better connected to nearby tourism and heritage attractions.
The new precinct project will involve the development of a concourse, tree planting, new street lighting and installation of street furniture. Partial decking of Bendigo Creek will be undertaken to integrate the existing Chinese gardens and the proposed part-damming of the creek will create a larger and more ceremonial body of water.
Predictions estimate the Bendigo Chinese Precinct would attract up to 40,000 people each year by 2014, create an estimated 31 jobs and boost the local economy by about $2.3 million. Last year, the Bendigo region lured more than 1.64 million daytrip visitors with about 700,000 visitors staying overnight.
The precinct will also provide the impetus to expand and grow Bendigo's festivals and events by developing new cultural activities such as a Night Hawkers market, and expand existing events like Chinese New Year, Bendigo Easter Fair and the Autumn Moon Festival.
The State Government is injecting $1.6 million to the project through its Regional Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF). Greater Bendigo City Council is providing $900,000 and the Commonwealth Government $1.9 million.
Thousands flock to Melbourne for Days in the Diocese
An estimated 22,000 international visitors from more than 90 countries flocked to Melbourne to join at least 18,000 young Victorians for the local Day in the Diocese celebrations as part of the recent World Youth Day.
To provide international pilgrims with all the hot tips on where to spend time and even where to shop Tourism Victoria developed a Day in the Diocese site as part of its BackPack Victoria website. Pilgrims also had the opportunity to pick up a Pilgrim Passport developed by Tourism Victoria to take advantage of all the special offers from Melbourne's premier tourism, entertainment and cultural attractions.
Following his address to more than 40,000 pilgrims at the Commissioning Mass at Telstra Dome the Premier John Brumby said World Youth Day activities in Australia are expected to attract more visitors than ever before to an Australian event, many of whom will spend time in Victoria.
"This is an opportunity to showcase Victoria to the world as a great place to host a major events, inclusive and open to all people and their faiths, and valuing the contribution of young people."
The State Government provided $4 million to support Victoria's Day in the Dioceses events across the state.
Master marketing at upcoming Masterclass
Registrations will open soon for Tourism Victoria's Tourism Marketing Masterclass, which will be held on 8 October at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.
The Masterclass is an innovative forum designed to provide you with updates and insights on what marketing is happening in the tourism industry. Find out what you need to know about reaching your target and prospective domestic audiences, and how to achieve better results from your marketing efforts.
Topics to be explored include the future of on-line marketing and booking, brand marketing and marketing the 'green' credentials of your business. Hear tips on how to market your business on a shoe-string and join a hands-on workshop designed to teach you how to take fantastic photos for either web or traditional mediums.
Tourism Victoria's Tourism Masterclass is your opportunity to keep up with fast moving marketing trends and share ideas and practices with your industry colleagues.
For further information contact Jodie Stevens, Manager Corporate Marketing, on 9653 9848 or email
Museum Victoria celebrates record breaking year
Museum Victoria has recorded its most successful year with over 1.5 million visitors at its museums and IMAX Theatre across the 2007/08 financial year.
Encouragingly this figure is 10 per cent higher than expected and represents an increase on the previous year's attendance by more than 100,000.
Melbourne Museum saw the strongest attendance welcoming 732,335 visitors while the Immigration Museum had a record number of children take part in their education programs with close to 50,000 taking part.
One of the world's oldest remaining exhibition pavilions, the Royal Exhibition Buildings recorded more than 330,000 visitors, an impressive 16 per cent increase on last year.
Upcoming events
Backpacker Operators Alliance of Victoria Christmas in July – 31 July, Melbourne
"Cruise Shipping - Are we delivering?" conference – 27-29 August, Melbourne
Australian Indian Film Festival Awards – 2 September 2008, Melbourne
Tourism Victoria Marketing Masterclass - 8 October, Melbourne
Bed and Breakfast Industry Conference - 13 & 14 October
Victorian Tourism Awards Gala Ceremony - 17 November, Melbourne
